Alan Cumming Will Play First Openly Gay Lead Character In A Network TV Drama On 'Instinct'!

Alan Cumming is making network TV history!

The 52-year-old actor is set to star in the procedural crime drama Instinct as an openly gay former CIA operative who has since built a different life as a gifted professor and writer, but gets pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer.

“I applaud everyone at CBS for having the courage to put that on, in the climate that might not be the best time to do it,” Alan expressed (via Deadline) while speaking onstage during the CBS/Showtime portion of the 2018 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington on Saturday (January 6) in Pasadena, Calif.

“The President is actively condoning, by his silence, violence and persecution against the LGBT community,” Alan added. “I think it’s the perfect time and needs to be done. [It's] all that more important we should have a character with a healthy same-sex marriage.”

Alan was joined at the panel by executive producer Michael Rauch, and his co-stars Sharon Leal, Bojana Novakovic and Naveen Andrews.

Instinct premieres on CBS on March 11 – Watch the trailer below!